Debugging is a part of the development of a web application. Debugging is facilitated through the use of a debugging tool that enables a developer to observe the runtime behavior of the web application and to analyze errors. The debugging tool may be part of an integrated development environment (IDE), running on the developer's workstation, that enables a developer to debug the web application while developing the source code for the web application.
A web application may be implemented as part of a cloud service that may be accessible to multiple users through a public network, such as the Internet. The cloud service accepts one or more requests and returns a response through a set of well-defined interfaces. A cloud service may be composed of a network of servers utilizing various web applications that cooperate in performing a task. A cloud service may collaborate with other services, such as where one cloud service calls another cloud service to perform a subtask.
In developing a web application for use as a cloud service in this context, it is preferable for the developer to debug the web application locally on the developer's computing device. However, the developer needs to execute the web application under operational conditions, such as having a service residing in the cloud calling the web application being developed on the developer's machine.
Tracing, such as logging diagnostic messages during the execution of a web application, is a debugging method used to trace or follow the flow of execution. Tracing is not as effective as interactive debugging where the developer can pause execution to examine the behavior of a software application. Interactive debugging through the installation of a debugging tool in the cloud may not be feasible if the web application runs in a secure environment. The security of other applications executing with the web application may be compromised by the actions of the developer using the debugging tool. In addition, the debugging process may interfere with other customers using the cloud service.